NBC News: Federal Investigators Monitored Trump Lawyer's Phone Calls For Weeks

Michael Cohen

NBC News is reporting that the phone lines of Donald Trump's longtime attorney, Michael Cohen, have been monitored by federal investigators for several weeks.

Cohen is currently under investigation for his part in a $130K "hush money" payment to porn star Stormy Daniels regarding an alleged affair she had with Donald Trump.

It is not clear how long the monitoring of phone calls has been authorized, but NBC News has learned it was in place in the weeks leading up to the raids on Cohen's offices, hotel room, and home in early April, according to one person with direct knowledge.

The calls are logged by what is commonly referred to as a pen register, which records the number of the phone that made the call and the number that received it, but does not record the contents of any conversation.

NBC News originally reported that Cohen's phone lines had been wiretapped, meaning a judge had given investigators approval to listen to phone calls. Three senior U.S. officials now dispute that, saying the monitoring of the calls was limited to a log of calls.

At least one phone call between a phone line associated with Cohen and the White House was logged, the person said.